Antiochus (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ἀντίοχος; fl. 4th century BC) was a

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

man who lived during the time of

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the a ...

(ruled 359-336 BC). He originally came from Orestis,

Upper Macedonia Upper Macedonia (Greek: Ἄνω Μακεδονία, ''Ánō Makedonía'') is a geographical and tribal term to describe the upper/western of the two parts in which, together with Lower Macedonia, the ancient kingdom of Macedon was roughly divided. ...

(modern-day

Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

). Antiochus served as an officer under Philip II, and gained distinction as a military general. Antiochus was from an upper noble family. His father was probably called Seleucus, his brother was called

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...

and he probably had a nephew called Seleucus. Antiochus married a Macedonian woman called Laodice and in about 358 BC Laodice gave birth to their son

Seleucus I Nicator Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the po ...

, who became a general of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

and later founded and became the first king of the Seleucid Empire; she also gave birth to their daughter, Didymeia. It was pretended, in consequence of a dream which Laodice had, that the god

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

was the real father of Seleucus. When Seleucus became king, he founded and named 16 cities in honor of his father, including the Syrian city of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

(now situated in modern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) and the Seleucid Military Outpost, Antioch, Pisidia. Through Seleucus, Antiochus had thirteen Seleucid kings bearing his name, as well as various monarchs from the

Kingdom of Commagene Commagene ( grc-gre, Κομμαγηνή) was an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom ruled by a Hellenized branch of the Iranian Orontid dynasty that had ruled over Armenia. The kingdom was located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which ...

. Antiochus had numerous descendants through his son from the 3rd century BC until the 5th century AD and possibly beyond.

References

Sources

* John D. Grainger, ''Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom'' page 2 * Roger Campbell-Scott, "Nimrud Dagh - A Sacred Mountain in Anatolia" pgs 194-197 in ''Reader’s Digest, Vanish Civilisations'', Reader’s Digest Services P/L, Hong Kong, 1988 * "Places in Bible Times", ''Reader’s Digest: Jesus and His Times'', The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Printed by Fourth Printing USA, July 1990 * D. Engels, "Prodigies and Religious Propaganda: Seleucus and Augustus", in: C. Deroux (ed.), ''Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History'', vol. 15, Brussels 2010, 153-177.

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20080614211258/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0204.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20080423052756/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3103.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Antiochus Year of birth missing Year of death unknown Ancient Macedonian generals 4th-century BC Macedonians 4th-century BC births